Page 61

Story: Substitute Bride

“Looking at your condition, it seems as if you’ve been ill for years. And even in such a state, you talk so much nonsense—this is a tremendous talent in itself.”

“Very funny… But please don’t try to act funny; you’re not funny at all.”

“But just now you said it was very funny.”

Jhankar, who was heading toward the car, abruptly stops, turns around, and begins staring at him. Vikrant continues looking at her. Jhankar walks up to him, looks into his eyes, and speaks softly.

“Wow… You obsess over words too badly… Fuck your ass… Now I’ve told you that, but technically it’s not possible… Think wisely…”

Vikrant bursts into laughter at her words. Jhankar immediately turns around, suddenly realizing what she just said. She closes her eyes tightly in embarrassment and presses her lips together to stop herself from laughing, but Vikrant’s laughter is so loud that, even after sitting inside the car with the windows closed, she can still hear him. Vikrant laughs wholeheartedly, then gets into the car. Jhankar turns her face to the other side and completely ignores him, then asks,

“What are you doing here?”

“Actually, Sharda Maa hadn’t eaten her favorite ice cream in a long time, so I thought of getting it for her since the doctor has already allowed her to eat everything. That’s why I came here. And since it’s your office time, I thought I’d take you along too. Feeding you some ice cream might also help cool down your mind so these strange thoughts in your head can work better.”

Jhankar doesn’t say anything at all, and like every day, she’s just looking outside the car. Vikrant, who was trying to glance at her again, suddenly looks ahead, then abruptly pulls her toward himself with a jerk. She falls into the gap between the seats, and he throws himself on top of her. There’s a loud noise echoing.

CHAPTER 26

REALIZATION

Jhankar is very surprised that Vikrant has come to pick her up, but a strange happiness has forced her to smile suddenly. She is smiling and looking out of the window, and Vikrant, sitting nearby, is probably still laughing and remembering her words, which is why she does not want to look at him at all. Vikrant is laughing so much that his jaw starts hurting, and he looks out of the other window. After looking at Jhankar once, he looks ahead and sees that a truck loaded with rods is right in front of them. That truck suddenly applies brakes, and their car is moving at a very high speed. He looks at Jhankar, grabs her hand, pulls her toward his side, secures her in his arms, and without any delay throws them into the gap between the front and back seats, comes on top of her, and hides his face in the crook of her neck. Meanwhile, the car collides violently, forcing him to hold her tightly. Jhankar, who is taken aback by all these events, becomes even more terrified when the car collides with something forcefully, causing her to grip Vikrant tightly.

With a loud sound, there is complete silence for a second. Jhankar feels like there is complete silence, especially near her ears, as if all the sounds have suddenly stopped, but the very next moment, they start hearing a lot of sounds. Jhankar opens her eyes, and there are many iron rods in front of her eyes that are going from above, tearing the front seat, and she has a verygood idea that if Vikrant had not suddenly pushed her in the gap, then perhaps these iron rods would have passed through her body. Seeing all this, she gets even more scared and, with great difficulty, calls out Vikrant's name very softly.

“Vikrant…”

When Vikrant hears her voice, he immediately looks up to see her. However, the numerous bars above his head prevent him from seeing her properly, so he slowly turns his face toward her. Their faces are so close that they can only see each other's side profiles very slightly. The situation is such that Vikrant's right eye is very close to Jhankar's left eye, enabling him to see her fully, but they are very aware of each other. If he moves even slightly, his lips can touch her cheek, prompting him to communicate with her in a very gentle voice.

"Are you okay?"

"I am okay... Are you okay? ... You are not hurt, are you?"

"I am okay too."

As numerous rods swiftly graze Vikrant's back and pierce into the rear seat, Jhankar comes to understand that Vikrant is deceiving her; he is definitely hurt. Effortlessly, she raises her hand and touches Vikrant's back. She tries to bring her hand to her face by touching Vikrant's back, a task that is slightly challenging but not impossible. Tears come to her eyes as soon as she sees blood on her hand. She says,

"You are bleeding."

Vikrant can feel the panic in her as she sees the blood on her hand because she is starting to tremble. Vikrant says to her softly while looking into her eyes,

"Everything is okay..."

"You are bleeding..."

"I told you everything is absolutely fine; don't panic; the guards will come any moment... I am not feeling much pain, which means that the injury is not too deep. Maybe the rods just grazed past my back, so some blood will definitely come out."

"You are lying..."

"No, I am not..."

"Are you sure?"

He doesn't answer. As soon as she utters these words, Jhankar's eyes begin to well up with tears—a sight Vikrant has also witnessed firsthand, a sight he detests. Due to this, he turns his eyes away from her and turns his face toward the seat. He begins to hear the voices of his men, so he shouts loudly,

“Mahesh, Akram…”

And in response, they hear their excited voices confirming their safety.